Reading & Literature Content

Shift away from Victorian values; Utopian and science fiction

An expression in which the specific language means something different from the literal meaning

British Literature 1660-1785

A poem that depicts life in an idyllic, idealized way

Any text has more than one interpretation; any interpretive reading can only go to a certain point

A contradictory statement that makes sense

Two syllables, stressed unstressed (', u) i.e. "MAScot"

American Lit: 1660-1760

American Lit: 1760-1787

New Testament; monk writings on the Crusades; Diet of Worms; Machiavelli's The Prince

A wise saying, usually short and witty

Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing; Marlowe and Spenser

A turn from the general audience to address a specific group of persons or personified abstractions

Enlightenment

Records events or situations as they have been remembered, often through the subjective views of the characters

The overall feeling created by the author's use of words; how the author feels

Society is viewed as patriarchal; consider gender/orientation and power relations/roles of characters

A descriptive phrase or word frequently used to characterize a person or thing

A stanza made up of two rhyming lines

Animals, ideas, and things are represented as having human traits in a figurative sense

A feeling the text evokes in the reader

A reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event within a work of literature

Joining of opposites; things that are out of place or absurd

A metrical foot consisting of two syllables, both of which are stressed (',') i.e. "cowboy" or "baseball"

Focuses on experiences of characters who can't find any inherent purpose in life; ultimately meaningless actions, events

The multiple use of a word, phrase, or idea for emphasis or rhythmic effect

Three syllables, stressed unstressed unstressed (', u, u) i.e. "HAPpiness"

Canterbury Tales; morality play Everyman; lyric poetry

Ancient epics; religious scriptures and texts; codified laws; early philosophy

Sonnet that opens with an octave that states a proposition and ends with a sestet that states the solution

The flaw that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero; from the Greek word hybris, meaning "excessive pride"

Rogue main character living by his or her wits and is told in a string of loosely connected events

A philosophy that values human freedom and personal responsibility; existence means to act independently

Harlem Renaissance; Naturalism; Surrealism

Novels composed of idealized events far removed from everyday life; gothic and medieval subgenres

Beatniks; Confessional poetry

American Lit: 1625-1660

Repetition of final consonant sound in words containing different vowels

A 14-line poem, usually written in iambic parameter, with a varied rhyme scheme

Experimental forms of literature are honored; represented by both honoring the past and celebrating popular lit.

Juxtaposition of one sensory image with another that appeals to an unrelated sense i.e. "region where the sun is silent"

Word or phrase that substitutes for an offensive or suggestive one

Emphasized a focus on naturalism; serious subjects treated with maximum realism;

Text is viewed as an expression of the feelings, thoughts, and desires of the author

Literature that tries to represent life as it really is

A subtle or implicit comparison is made between two unlike things

Use of words to suggest sounds

A genre that uses magic and other supernatural forces as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting

Two syllables, unstressed stressed (u, ') i.e. "da DUM"

Naturalism, post-modernism

Reliance on familiar character types and narrative structures

Examines economic and social class structures; who has power & money; what happens as a result of these differences;

A narrative technique in which the main story is composed primarily for organizing a set of shorter stories

American Lit: 1828-1836

British Literature 1785-1832

Attribution of human feelings or responses to inanimate things or animals

Criticism that poets struggle against the earlier influences of previous generations of poets

Aesthetic (feelings, thoughts) and efferent (elicit facts of the text) responses to text

The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals, particularly at the end of each stanza

Beowulf; hymns and elegies

A comparison that explains the connection between objects/ideas that appear to be different

A rhythmical pattern in verse that is made up of stressed and unstressed syllables

A lyric or poem on a serious subject, written in dignified language

Specific type of metaphor that compares two very different things, but with more complexity and clearer juxtaposition

Three syllables, unstressed unstressed stressed (u, u, ') i.e. "underSTAND"

Language that intentionally distorts or disguises meaning

Repetition of same vowel sounds in words close to one another

Represents an idea or generalization about life; includes strong lesson or moral

Resolution or conclusion of a story

Fireside Poets; Realism; Transcendentalism

Philosophy valuing individualism, experimentation, idealism, nature, and spirituality

Criticisms or interpretations of a work of literature should not be influenced by the author's background/beliefs

Character, plot, image, theme, or setting that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated over time

A short story or folktale, frequently w/ animals, that contains a moral lesson usually expressed in the end

A 19-line poem of five tercets with ABA scheme and a final quatrain of ABAA

This era in British lit. (1830-1901) represents a reflection on major transformations and a shift away from romanticism

Text is viewed as existing independently, & a close reading of the text reveals meaning; no outside knowledge/inference

A style of writing that portrays the inner thoughts of a character; may not have regard for language/grammar standards

Golden age of Russian poetry; shift towards realism

A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of several clauses

Hobbe's Leviathan; Milton's The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates

A poem in which a character speaks to listeners whose response is not known, and who may or may not be present

Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth; Donne's songs, sonnets, and elegies; Bacon's Reports

An author's choice of words based on their clarity, conciseness, effectiveness, and authenticity

Main character seeking to find something/achieve a goal; overcomes obstacles and becomes wiser over the journey

Dark & picturesque scenery, startling & melodramatic narrative devices; overall atmosphere of mystery & dread

A long speech made in a play while no other characters speak; usually the speaker is alone on stage

A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole

The art and science of text interpretation

Paradise Lost; Herbert; Carew's elegy for John Donne

A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another which it is closely associated i.e. "Hollywood" for L.A.

A comparison of two unlike things, usually including the word like or as

A sonnet that includes three quatrains and a couplet

The relationship between texts, especially works of literature

Examines Western ethnocentrism, colonization, and imperialism; rejects underrepresented people as "others"

6 stanzas of 6 lines and a final triplet; same 6 words at the line ends in 6 different sequences that follow a pattern

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in words

A pun/play on words that results when two words become mixed up in the speaker's mind

Silly, often stereotyped characters are involved in far-fetched scenarios

Animals, ideas, and things are represented as having human traits in a literal sense